SIEV X mourners remember the nameless dead

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Anger and grief: Bahja Hassan lost seven family members in the SIEV X disaster.Photo: Nicole Emanuel

FOUR years ago Bahja Hassan lost an uncle, his wife and their
five children, aged four to 11, when the SIEV X sank.

Ms Hassan, who was born in Iraq and now lives in Whittlesea, is
in no doubt over who is to blame for her loss.

"I blame the Australian Navy and the Indonesian smugglers for
their deaths," she said yesterday, at the commemoration of a
memorial for the 353 asylum seekers who lost their lives when the
boat sank.

Only 45 people survived the tragedy, rescued 20 hours later by
Indonesian fishing vessels.

A Melbourne Islamic leader yesterday challenged the Australian
Navy to explain why it didn't go to the rescue of the SIEV X as the
vessel, overloaded with people, started taking water.

Sheikh Issa, from the Islamic Council of Victoria, said he
understood the vessel sank close to Australian waters where the
Australian Navy was operating.

"So if there was a willingness to save them, that could have
been done.

"We remember how there was a ship called Tampa. That ship saved
a lot of people," he said, referring to the Norwegian ship that
rescued 433 asylum seekers a month earlier.

"Why was the Tampa path not emulated by the Australian
Navy?"

The tragedy should be highlighted in international forums, he
said. "The refugees have every right to be taken care of."

He said nearly all the victims were Muslims, mainly from
"wrecked countries" such as Iraq. "The community is very
disappointed at this tragedy and the lack of response from the
Government. They did not show any sympathy."

At a simple ceremony in the Flagstaff Gardens, he read from the
Koran and said "in Islamic literature, we call such people martyrs
because they were coming for noble ideas to have a better
life for their families."

Sheikh Issa also called on the Australian Federal Police to
relent on their refusal to release the names of the dead. "People
say there is this number 353 but why are they kept nameless?" he
said.

He proposed their names be recorded on a memorial for relatives
to see.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Robert Hill referred to the
Select Committee on a Certain Maritime Incident report, which found
extensive maritime surveillance on Australia's northern approaches
was under way at the time.

On October 19, 2001, the helicopter from HMAS Arunta was
assigned to searching an area where the SIEV X survivors were
waiting for help, but turned back after running low on fuel.